Primary school shakes off poor Ofsted rating

Improvements to teaching and the progress made by children have helped a primary school shake off a poor Ofsted rating.
By The Newsroom
Published 11th Apr 2016, 10:00 BST

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Willingdon Primary School, Rapsons Road, E30134P ENGSUS00120130722160410Willingdon Primary School, Rapsons Road, E30134P ENGSUS00120130722160410
Willingdon Primary School, Rapsons Road, E30134P ENGSUS00120130722160410

Willingdon Primary School, in Rapsons Road, had been rated ‘requires improvement’ but, after undergoing a two-day inspection in March, that rating was raised to ‘good’.

Describing the school as a “friendly, inclusive and welcoming community”, inspector Julie Sackett recognised the efforts of headteacher Judith Cooper and her team to improve the quality of teaching at Willingdon.

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Ms Sackett said: “Standards are higher in reading, writing and mathematics than at the time of the previous inspection. As a result, Year 6 pupils are better prepared for the next stage in their learning.” Those efforts to help children succeed were reflected in the introduction of workshops to teach parents about phonics – the sounds letters make – and to offer guidance about how they could support their children’s learning at home.

Some parents expressed their appreciation of the workshops to Ms Sackett and her colleagues and said they felt communication with the school had improved and the leaders were “available and approachable”. It was noted a parents forum was scheduled to begin soon, giving parents the opportunity to share their views regularly with leaders.

When it came to future improvement – and the possibility of achieving the top ‘outstanding’ rating – Ms Sackett said the teaching of grammar, punctuation and mathematical problem-solving skills needed to be strengthened, as pupils had not made rapid enough progress.

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